{"id":491,"date":"2014-08-11T14:09:04","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T12:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainpassions.com\/wordpress\/?p=491"},"modified":"2021-10-01T12:41:59","modified_gmt":"2021-10-01T10:41:59","slug":"ski-la-clusaz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mountainpassions.com\/winter\/ski-resort-reviews\/alps\/ski-la-clusaz\/","title":{"rendered":"La Clusaz"},"content":{"rendered":"
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W<\/span>e last skied in La Clusaz a long time ago, and much has changed. The replacement of the Beauregard cable-car by a high-speed gondola really improved access to the eastern terrain where we and many others like to begin our days\u2019 skiing. The ride up provides a dramatic overview of the village and its unmistakable setting, before dropping us at 1635m. Ahead is a large children\u2019s area, while to the left and right tree-lined Blue or Black pistes head all the way back down again, but we take the gentle Blue-graded run over to the nearby Croix-Fry area. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\nThe landscapes, looking pristine after a long night of continuous snowfall, are a picture, and Croix-Fry sits among them like a tiny ski-village in a world of its own.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The beautiful Manigod valley after fresh snow.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The distant summits of the Etale Massif and its neighbour L'Aiguille.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Views of Manigod<\/h2>\n
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The landscapes, looking pristine after a long night of continuous snowfall, are a picture, and Croix-Fry sits among them like a tiny ski-village in a world of its own. There\u2019s another beginner area here plus a selection of Red and Blue runs, but we take a lift up and over the T\u00eate de Cabeau (1650m), where we pause briefly to take in the definitive overview of the Manigod valley before dropping into the Merdassier sector. The change of mood is accentuated by the dramatic backdrop of the Massif de l\u2019Etale looming some 2400m before us. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Col de Merdassier is a pleasant area, and we take the Chevreuil lift back up to the T\u00eate de Cabeau to repeat the run before taking an early lunch-break and moving across to confront L\u2019Etale. The majority of runs on this side of the valley are Red-graded and served by drag-lifts, the steepest of which (Le Grand Chamois) hauls us up to a vertiginous viewpoint above a narrow adjoining valley. On the bracing run back down we peel off to join a gentle, Green-graded cruise round to the Grands Laquais drag-lift to join the Blue-graded Les Joux piste. Once down we transfer to the modern Transval cable-car across to the Combe des Juments. The onward haul via two chairlifts up to L\u2019Aiguille (2257m) puts us way above the popular Cr\u00eate du Merle area and allows us to pick up the Red-graded Fernuy piste for the long and exhilarating plunge to the foot of the La Balme gondola.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Picturesque intermediate runs above Merdassier.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Piste-side chalets in La Clusaz.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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C\u00f4te 2000<\/h2>\n

The snow below the 2477m Col de Balme holds up well in the afternoon, encouraging the kind of E-W progression which has brought us so far from our starting-point. It\u2019s worth the effort, as we discover while exploring as much of the Red and Blue-graded terrain above us as time allows before we have to think of our return route. We could be sensible and take the relaxing La Motte return Green run back to the upper end of the village, but instead ride the Fernuy gondola up to C\u00f4te 2000. By now it\u2019s getting late, and we emerge from the gondola into a bitter wind, determined to let our skis run on the succession of Red and Blue pistes which will take us back to where we began. It\u2019s a long way… much further than we\u2019d imagined, but doesn\u2019t involve another lift \u2013 a reassuring thought at the end of the day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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